'Wembley Park', the Quintain off-shoot today which has commandeered the name of our area, today launched the steps replacement for the Pedway as if it was a gift to local people - '48 Steps for the Community' - of course the community (via Brent Council) made Quintain a gift of some £17.8m of Strategic CIL money to part-fund the steps and other changes on Olympic Way.
I am sure that people from the far reaches of Brent will rush up to Wembley avoiding broken pavements, pot holes and fly-tips to marvel at this gift and enjoy sitting on the steps.
The Press Release from Coverdale Barclay (click bottom right for full page)
9 comments:
I will have a chance to see the new steps for myself when I go for a second Covid-19 jab in a couple of weeks time, so will reserve judgement on them until after that.
Although I am familiar with Quintain / Wembley Park, the name Coverdale Barclay at the top of the attached "information sheet" was new to me, so I "googled" them. This is what they say about themselves on their website:
'Coverdale Barclay specialises in strategic brand positioning, PR, marketing and stakeholder engagement for districts and destinations undergoing change, and for companies that work within this space. The work we deliver drives perception change and increased commercial value.'
"48 New Steps for the Community" is a PR exercise, to try to change our perception of what Quintain are doing to increase the commercial value of their Wembley Park development.
And Brent Council has contributed £17.8m towards it.
I prefer the pedway
I'd prefer the the council had repaired the borough's pavements, whouldn't you? In fact, I'd prefer just about anything else, as this is an utter waste of Brent residents' money which has funded an infrastructure project of two businesses.
Pity that whilst the PR company are celebrating past sporting and music events they don't fully reveal our lovely Tile Murals at the gateway to Olympic Way, that celebrate all past events held in this area which is a true colourful reflection visitors of events held at the Stadium, and part of our heritage assets. Much better than seeing the horrible ads for renting flats, especially now as they are reducing the rents by 25%, not as popular as they would like ....me thinks.
In the interests of openness and transparency, has Mr Grant ever received monies for services rendered to Quintain / Wembley Park?
Dear Anonymous (16 April at 21:32),
I don't know what the point of you question about me is, but I am happy to answer it, in the interests of openness and transparency.
I have never received any money from Quintain / Wembley Park, or from any other source, for any services rendered to them.
I did research and write a detailed illustrated article on the history of Olympic Way in 2017, but that was for Brent Council's Regeneration Department, and I did it voluntarily and was not paid for it. It is now available on the Brent Archives website:
https://www.brent.gov.uk/media/16409364/the-olympic-way-story.pdf
I have known Julian Tollast, Quintain's Head of Masterplanning and Design, since we met at the unveiling of the "Wembley Lion" (on the green in Wembley Hill Road, opposite York House) in July 2014. Over the years we have exchanged emails, and shared information and images, in connection with Wembley Park (the place, not the "brand name" adopted by Quintain) and its history. No payment has been made, in either direction, as part of those exchanges.
Since Quintain bought the Fountain Studios building in 2016, I have been in touch with Mr Tollast, and possibly another Quintain employee, about saving the two "lion heads" from an original British Empire Exhibition building, and incorporating them as part of Quintain's proposed Fulton Quarter redevelopment. I have offered to draft two illustrated local history panels, to be displayed beside those BEE lions, but again, that would be on an entirely voluntary basis, with no payment made, or even expected.
Wembley's history is my main hobby, and I take pride in being an amateur local historian. For the record, I do not charge any fee to Brent Libraries for the talks I give as part of their programme of services for local residents.
I hope that is an open and transparent enough answer for you.
My observation is addressed to 'Anonymous 16 April 2021 at 21.32'.
In the interests of openness and transparency (your words) why are you then anonymous?
As for your ignorant, insulting and unnecessary comment, in my opinion Mr Philip Grant is a great Champion of local history and it's about time he received an accolade/recognition by Brent Council for all the research work he has done and continues to do by enhancing, enlightening, educating and entertaining us with his very informative and well researched articles frequently published on Wembley Matters. The fact that we are constantly kept in the loop and updated about all the developments is down to all the efforts put in by guys like Philip and Martin. Respect to you both.
As for you Anonymous - get a life!
I agree with Eva Labak, both of you should be nominated for an Award, without you two most of us would not have a clue as to what is happening locally, environmentally, and politically. I especially admire Philips unwavering commitment to holding the Council to task to explain their actions and decisions with precision to those of us lay people who struggle to understand.
Thank you for your comment, Eva.
I've no idea who Anonymous (16 April at 21:32) is, and I wonder whether their "courage" will allow them to respond to either my reply to him/her, or your comment, with an explanation or apology.
Either way, it is a distraction from the main point of Martin' article - what do we make of the new steps, the way that Quintain and their PR agents are trying to "sell" them to us, and the fact that a substantial sum of Brent's own funds (for use on "community infrastructure") have been used to pay for them.
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